Blake Zika, 22, shown here in his own makeshift uniform, will be made an honorary officer in a ceremony today at the Tustin Police Department. COURTESY OF STACY LYNCH

Honorary police officer ceremony

Who: Blake Zika, 22-year-old Tustin resident with severe epilepsy

When: 10:30 a.m. today

Where: Tustin Police Department, 300 Centennial Way

Blake Zika, a 22-year-old resident who loves the boys in blue, will get the ultimate surprise today of becoming an honorary Tustin police officer.

Zika, who has had severe epilepsy since he was 4, often dresses up at home in a cop costume, said his mother Stacy Lynch.

“We'll drive down the street and he'll say, ‘Look at the cops, mom,’” she said. She described her son as having the mental perspective of a 5- to 7-year-old, but he dreams of being a cop.

Lynch's husband Kenneth is a former officer with the Tustin Police Department, and is friends with Chief Charlie Celano, Lt. Bob Wright and others in the department.

“The chief ended up finding out that Blake is a huge fan of the police...and wanted to do something to recognize his support of us,” Wright said.

As a result, Tustin Police will hold an “honorary police officer” ceremony at 10:30 a.m. today at the station, where Zika will get a uniform with the Tustin Police patch.

Wright added that the honorary role has no police powers or authority.

Epilepsy, a neurological condition that is characterized by seizures, can impact a child's cognitive development and learning. Lynch said that while her son is outgoing and loves physical activity, he stopped learning around the age of 7 or 8.

Zika has been on 26 different medications and undergone three brain surgeries, Lynch said. Part of his brain was removed in a right temporal lobotomy and endured a corpus callosotomy, where the corpus callosum - which connects the two hemispheres of the brain - is severed. These days, medication doesn’t completely stop the seizures, but helps keep them to a relative minimum of 1-3 per month.

Lynch expects the ceremony to be a sweet surprise for her happy, outgoing son.

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